


Lookout

by Skylark



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Character Study, Exploration, Gen, Loneliness, Minor Jake English/Dirk Strider, Ocean, Pre-Sburb/Sgrub, Wilderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2014-04-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 09:49:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1464904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylark/pseuds/Skylark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a treacherous trek to the shore, and each trip is usually packed with enough near scrapes and death-defying feats of heroism to fuel Jake's storytelling with his friends for a week, if not more—which is why he rarely does it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lookout

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kylobe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylobe/gifts), [Cendree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cendree/gifts).



> A belated holiday gift for some of my fellow Jake-loving friends.

It's a treacherous trek to the shore, and each trip is usually packed with enough near scrapes and death-defying feats of heroism to fuel Jake's storytelling with his friends for a week, if not more—which is why he rarely does it. Still, it does him good to see the yawning blue water and a sky that's not hemmed in by tree-lined borders, so every now and again he wakes up while the birds are still sleeping, pulls on his best pair of hiking boots, dons his grandma's lucky old pith helmet that he only wears on special expeditions, and heads out into the ghostly half-light.

It takes hours of creeping and sneaking, hours of charging through clouds of tinkerbulls and edging his way upstream across slippery riverbed stones, hours of bug bites and a growing fire in his muscles as he pulls himself up another cliff face. But when he bursts through the treeline to catch his first glimpse of the ocean, it feels like all of his worries take wing and leave him, and he breaks into a wide grin.

He hops to keep his balance as he strips off his socks and shoes before running into the water, jumping, laughing, chasing the rippling waves as they break on the sand and throwing driftwood into the surf, singing at the top of his lungs.

Eventually caution wins the day, however, and he retreats to dig his toes into the sand a bit closer to the treeline. There are dangers in the water, too, ones so deadly they keep the other monsters away, but it'll be a minute or two before they come knocking.

"How refreshing," Jake murmurs to himself. "What a lucky man that Strider is." To see the ocean as a resource instead of a boundary! To never feel grounded by the earth beneath his feet! To know that all he has to do is build a boat and go, just go. If Dirk wanted to, he could chase the sun all around the world.

On impulse, Jake rushes back to the ocean, splashing his way in up to his waist with his shorts billowing around him in the water. "Dirk!" he yells, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Jane! Roxy! Hallo from Hellmurder Island! Come visit, the water's fine! 

"Dirk!" he shouts again, voice fading.

His hands drop to his sides, and for a moment he stands and squints at the water, biting his lip. "You've got a fantastic view," he tells Dirk, even though he knows no one's listening. "I'd love to see the sea wink at me every morning like this. You can't beat a blue lady of this caliber, you know!"

He tries to laugh, but hiccups instead.

With a sigh he trudges back to shore and takes a seat, sand sticking to his arms and legs. It'll be gone from his skin by the time he gets home, though; his only mementos will be the sea-salt smell of his clothes, the stories on his tongue, and maybe a seashell or two. They're not as interesting as skulls, but he can pretend that they're from the underwater ruins that Dirk tells him about sometimes, so they're just as valuable in their own way.

He tucks his knees up to his chest, smiling out of habit. "Golly," he whispers, "I wish my friends were here."


End file.
